The Red Dress Club: Iceberg, Greenberg

DadGiraffe was in college during the 1960s. More accurately, DadGiraffe was in the library during the 1960s. At least that was what we finally concluded. It seems that for any major historical event during that turbulent decade, he was either on the way to the library, at the library, or returning from the library. Meaning that his cultural literacy is a bit on the weak side.

[In all fairness, DadGiraffe was Phi Beta Kappa at UCLA and that gave him preferential access to “the stacks.”]

Which brings us to Summer 2005. With my first year of Reform School under my belt, I was floundering in Hebrew. An occupational hazard, as one might imagine, for a future rabbi. For reasons far too complicated for this post, I needed to retake my final examinations and DadGiraffe offered to tutor me. Hoping to lift my spirits, he suggested we take our studies to the great outdoors and head for the beach.

Now here’s the thing: yes, DadGiraffe is a second generation Californian and yes, he has lived within close proximity to the beach for nearly all of his life. But he’s not from the beach bums. Or the surfers. An annual family outing to the nearby bay was just enough to satisfy the requirement. It just so happened that my need for a tutorial coincided with his annual trip.

On this particular sunny day, we found parking on a residential street some blocks away from the shoreline. Shlepping along, we came upon a house that resembled a makeshift altar of some sort, complete with tall memorial candles and pictures.

DadGiraffe: It looks as though that is a house of mourning.FrumeSarah: I’m sure it is. That’s a picture of Jerry Garcia.

Remembe(RED) is a memoir meme. This week, the assigned topic? Sand. That’s it. No other guidance. Or word count. The word brought up so very many past experiences, but this was the one that clambered to be told. As always, constructive criticism is welcomed!

I don’t think anyone becomes Phi Beta Kappa at UCLA unless one spends a lot of time in the library!

A friend has told me that if a person remembers the 60’s, then he/she did not experience the 60’s.
I too grew up in the 60’s, but didn’t even know what marijuana smelled like until I attended a Cheech and Chong drive-in movie in the early 70’s. Apparently the dorms at UCI were pretty tame compared to other campuses.

Slight correction: I had access to the stacks because I was a Regents’ Scholar. The Phi Beta Kappa came at the end of my college career (not nearly as impressive as the the brother of one of your regular readers who achieved that distinction at the end of his junior year!) I am glad that this wasn’t a matching quiz. I do know the name Jerry Garcia and I do know of the group called The Grateful Dead. It is unlikely, though, that I would have connected the two! And it gets worse: I have long forgotten how teddy bears figure into the picture! At least I am fulfulling a major parental role…continuing to embarrass my children!!

After doing this for the past few weeks, I think I am comfortable with using the prompt as the starting point for a free association. I’ve live in SoCal nearly my entire life so there were so many stories that involve sand. Though the sand is incidental in this memory, it was a story that has been patiently waiting to be shared.

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